Attaching means for automobile wheel hub caps or shields



v 1 (LEI- A April 13, 1954 ATTACHING MEANS FOR AUTOMOBILE WHEEL HUBCAPS OR SHIELDS Filed Feb. 19, 1952 c. F. HAUTAU 2,675,272

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

CHARLES F. f/AUTAU ATTOfP/Vf) April 13, 1954 c. F. HAUTAU 2,675,227.

ATTACHING MEANS FOR AUTOMOBILE WHEEL HUBCAPS OR SHIELDS Filed Feb. 19, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. CHARLES F. HAUTAU ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 13, 1 954 ATTA'CHING -MEANS FOR AUTOMGBILEa wnnunnvniion-s onsnmms.

Charmin.knaiitw liuntmgton, Mlblif Application .retmanms, mszgserm Now272320 This invention relates;toautomobile vehicle wheels and has particular. reference toa' hubcan or "shieldorother decorativeelement for sucha wheel. and meansfor securingthe same .to the whe'el';

An object .of .the invention is to generally 'imefi provesuchi devices" and. to"provi ie"'a device of that character which "is fsiirfpleinmns'trtxctionr economical" to manufacture anweflicient in'operr anon? Another object -of 'the"'inventi o'n" is to *provide a hub" cap or wheel tshieltliwhic'lrinay beneadily" attachedttoianddetachedfrom thewheei:

Another'objectof 'th'e'invention *isto iprovide" sonnet r40 1. sar -137 FigIfZi's' an.enlargediragmentary detail showinga modifie'dfo'rm of theiinvention.

Referring now. more particularly. to the draw.-

iing, it' Twill Tee" understood. that, in the .embodi- 5 :m'nt herein 'dis'closedathe reference. characten 1 indicates in general .the-hubcap. or wheel. shield,

which is "'substantiallysdish shaped, astshown Figs. 1 and 2; "and. whichis providedwith an ans... nulaibeadj and a centrallyipositionedraised... lmipoltiofli "(Figl H1)" which.31ormally.l.covers the.

hnbl'of the Wheel |.0"'(Fi.l 2) IT It.-Wi11.be under-.., stood that in Fig. .2, 'theshield'J. is turned .180". from. the position. shown. inaEigln-L It wi1l..benotedtha t there is .noiphysicalicontact. between.;.

attaching means for a hub cap or wheershield"j'5;;the central portion .9 of..th..shield 1 and .the

whicn arecomparativlylightinweightwitlithe result thatanytendency'tounbalance the? wheel" to which theyareattach'edis minimized amen tendency*towardfivibiatioii andwattle is obviated? a huhcap or'wheel "shield" whic'li when in'use; employs, a clawingaction'on"thewheel wherebr' increased holdihg rpower' is developed -withouv danger of damagingthe'wheelfinisirf" Another object *of' 'the inventionis to"provide'25 a hub cap or wheel shield attaching meanswhicir facilitate 'the storage andshipmentof th caps or shilds "-forithe reason that'due to their sini plicity; the attaching meanscan be secured to the hub caps or wheel'shields'fiay simple tools'ttvg sub-assembhngdepotss The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will'be'come'moreapparent as theezsaiescription procee'dsgiflreference beingmadeaifrom-stimeto time to the-iiaccompanying 3D drawings forming..pa1.t..ofwthev within disclosuresin whichidrawin'gsz....

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of ttherinside of a hub cap or wheel shield, with parts broken away.

embodyihgmy invention. .4

isa sectiom'taken'through a convene tional -disc whe'er'for"anautomobile to whicii'is attached the hub cap or wheel shield as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view, with part of the rolled edge 45 broken away, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a modified form of a device embodying the invention.

Fig. 5 is a section taken through a convenn wheel in. There .being. only .peripheriaL-contact.l

between the shildlfalnd..theiwheel .10. This is iairimportant feature of theiinvention...

Inthe earlier. development. of the conventional. Anotherobjectwjftheinventionisto"provicle -20rautbmobilewheel', only thelcentralpart or hubn of the 'wheel' :was covered withlfia so. calledflhub eapi'whichwas 'always,, .in"physica1 contact .with.

ther'wheeli" Reent tendencies; however have b eh to increase the diameter of the so .calle'dhub psrunti'l now they cover substantially thlenwheelfso' that "the proper terminology. of

device fwould'lcorrectly "be" a wheel shield, instead-fora hubcapli; In any event, the device. ql lfunetionstocover"the" wheel hub..and..add.a ,tlecorativvappearance. tothe' entire. wheel. The. ing'dermtendency "has also been to makethei deca 'tiife shieldl er a lighter .gageymetal, which, i ;;not-properly" attached to. the wheel. I 0 i would l. rattie' 'ancl 'iivibiatef' It'is therefore, one .of the,

obiects of thi'sinvention to obviate 'sucheonditid'ns. I have accomplished thi'siresultibylnovel at 'chingtmean's whichTI Iwi1l"now. describel. Thjse"attachihg' means not onlyflobviate any. tendency of theshiidi 1 to rattleiland. vibrate,

but -also permitzfthe shield 'l' to i belt easily. and

quickly removed "fromithefwheel I10, andia's easily be attached? The"attachingmeans are generally indicated with the reference character II, and preferably consist of a rod or wire stock having a substantially square cross section. Each length of rod stock comprising one of the attaching elements ll (Fig. 3) is bent and re-bent to form a hook like element l2, having a substantially wide central portion I3, which, because of the square cross section of the rod, presents a comparatively sharp edge M (Fig. 2) to the inside face l5 of the rim portion 16 of the wheel ID. The long sharp edge It provides an extensive bearing sur- 55 face between each fastening element 'II and the wheel rim l 6. When the wheel shield 1 is mounted to the wheel ill, the attaching means H defiects until the shank I1 is firmly against the bead 8. Thereafter, any force which tends to dislodge the wheel shield 7 causes the sharp edge 14 of the attaching means II to dig into the rim section it of the wheel It. This action results from the springing effect between the sharp edge 14 and the shank l7.

The attaching elements ll (Figs. '1 and 3) are secured to the ring "EA by welding the ends thereto as at 58, after which the annular ring EA is compressed circumferentially and insertedunderneath the rolled edge E9 of the wheel shield i. I crimp the rolled edge of the shield i, as at (Fig. 1), to keep the attaching elements il and the ring 1A from shifting. The ring IA can be continuous or of split form. It will be noted that the fastening elements H have resiliency in order to shift from that position, as shown in Fig. 1, to that position shown in Fig, 2, when the shield i is placed on to the wheel i0.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6, I show a modified way of securing the attachingmeans II to the shield I In the modified form the attaching elements ll, insteadoi being individually formed ofseparate lengths or" square rod stock, are formed integrally on a continuous ring 2i, which is preferably held-in position beneath the rolled edge 22 as shown in Figs. l, 5, and 6. In this embodiment, the rolled edge 221s also crimped, as at 23, to obviate any-tendency of the ring 2i to become displaced. In 'all other respects, the attaching' tween the free edge 26'and the portion 2? of the" shield i. Theends of the'shank portions of the attaching "elements II are then welded to the fiattened'portion 25 of the shield 'l'jto secure them in position; I

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 'is'i 1. The combination with a wheel and a shield 4' thereforeof means for attaching the shield to the wheel, said means comprising a plurality of wide hooks, each hook comprising two curved legs and two straightshanks and an integral straight web secured to a ring positioned along' the outer edge of said shield, the web portion of each hook being arranged 'to'en'gage'an element of the rim "portion of said wheel, which is parallel to the axisof the wheel.

2. The structure of claim 1, in which said hooks are formed of stock having a substantially square cross section and 'each is arranged on the 3. Thestructure of claiml, in which each of said hooks is formed of stock having asubstan- 4 tially square cross section and is arranged on the shield, so that it presents an extensive length of one of the sharp edges of said square stock to the rim area of said wheel, whereby to eirect a clawing action between said shield and said wheel.

The structure of claim 1, in which the shank portions of said hooks engage an annular bead formed on said shield, whereby to e'fiect a resilient frictional engagement between said shield and said wheel.

5. The combination with a wheel and a shield therefor, of means for attaching the shield to the WheeLcOmprising a plurality of flexible wire elements ofsquare cross section, secured in spaced relation along the outer periphery of said shield, each'said element having a pair of spaced shanks, and an intermediate web the edge of which serves as a sharp bearing portion which engages the rim portion of said wheel.

6. The structure of claim 5, in which the said intermediate bearing portion of each element is arranged top resent to the rim portion of the wheel a long expanse of one of the sharp'edges of said square stock.

7. The structure of claim 5, in which the said intermediate bearing portion of each element is arranged to present to the rim portion of the wheel a long expanse of one of the sharp edges resilient locking action between said shield and said wheel. 35

intermediate bearing portion of each element is 8. The structure ofclaim 5, in which .the said arranged to, present to the rim portion of the wheel a" long expanse of ,one of the sharp'edges of said square stock, and the shanks of each element are arranged to contact an annular bead formed on said shield, whereby to effect a resilient locking'action.between said shield and said wheel, and whereby the central portion of said vshield is held spaced relation with the hub portion of said wheel H 9. The structure of claim 5, in which the rim oilsaid shield is formed with spaced fiattened areas and said fastening elements are secured by welding to saidflattened areas- References Cited in the file-of this atent UNITED STATES PMATENTS Number Name Date 771,740 McKeel Oct. 4, 1904 1,336,42/l V Xanss Dec. 15, 1931 2,055,047 Place Sept. 22,, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 314,229 Italy IQ Jan. 20, 1934 812,968, 3 France May 21, 1937 

